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Old 05-03-2009, 04:36 PM   #5 (permalink)
MalcolmSmith
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Several years ago, I was at a psychology conference with some other students and a prof, and the event people had us do this human factors design exercise as an icebreaker. Our group was paired up with these high-dollar designers from a major textbook company. We were supposed to design a new cell phone.

Our idea was to design a phone with no buttons. It would have a touch screen that could take on different appearances and configurations for different apps, e.g., calculator, phone, note pad, etc. Well, these designers just cracked up. They said, "No buttons? Ha ha ha. Who would want a phone with no buttons? Ha ha ha. Slurp." We gave in and gave them four buttons, for what purpose I don't know... four big black buttons on the sides. They were really rude and condescending about it. I bet they all have iPhones now. Tight turtle neck-wearing jerks.

Anyhow, part of our design was to use energy derived from the body for power--no batteries. So, the phone would be burning calories. People who are on the phone all the time would say, "Man, I don't normally eat brownies with chocolate chips and whipped cream, but I need the minutes." Imagine that, a phone that burns calories. It would put an end to anorexia and bulemia--talk all you want, eat all you want.

P.S. None of the high-dollar doofuses had the wherewithal to present our idea (I only say our idea, because they did contribute a pretty picture), so I did. You should have seen peoples eyes light up when I said the thing about burning calories. They were like, "Yeah! Sign me up AT&T!"
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Last edited by MalcolmSmith; 05-03-2009 at 04:41 PM.
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